Pittsburgh Pirates: Henry Davis First MLB Scuffles, More Takeaways From Losing 2 of 3 in Arizona

First MLB struggles for Henry Davis... sorta

After being selected no. 1 overall by the Pirates in the 2021 MLB Draft, Henry Davis found plenty of offensive success in the minors leagues. With the exception of when he was injured, Davis was hitting the ball.

Davis started his MLB career by picking up where he left off at in the minors. Through his first 65 MLB plate appearances Davis was hitting for a .288/.354/.390 slash line with his 1st career home run, a 7% walk rate, and a 26% strikeout rate.

Well, dating back to the end of their series in Los Angeles last week through this series in Arizona, Davis has started to struggle. In the team's past four games Davis is 0-for-12 with two strikeouts. However, he has drawn three walks and has been hit by pitch.

There are encouraging signs, though. One of which is that Davis is still hitting the ball hard.

During this four game skid he still owns a 40% hard-hit rate and an average exit velocity of 89 MPH, both which are above league average. This includes a 109 MPH bullet that Davis hit in game three on Sunday that looked ticketed for the right field corner until Arizona third baseman Emmanuel Rivera made a terrific leap grab of to rob Davis. Davis has continued to work counts and take pitches, he's also been hurt at times by pitches out of the zone being called strikes but that is also a testament to his pitch selection and patience at the plate.

As long as Davis keeps his regular approach at the plate he should be just fine. To steal a Clint Hurdle-ism the league has punched Davis for the first time in his career, now it's time for the youngster to punch back.